The pull of a mystery that needs to be solved, or of an unseen and looming threat that needs to be thwarted is alluring for many readers, and for me, combining that with either an epic, urban or alternative fantasy setting is better than ice cream and cake.

Since then, the commission has been seeking powers to enforce the removal of the ban, for which it needed Council approval but, by a qualified majority, the Council has once again thwarted any attempts to bring the errant member state into line.

The feds are failing to communicate properly, and now we've had a second close call thwarted not by federal authorities -- apparently too busy chasing backwoods, "anti-gov't" crackers to focus on the real threats -- but by average, every-day Americans.

Though Parky's ambition to play for England was "thwarted" – in fact he was laughed out of trials for Yorkshire – one who did make county was his Barnsley teammate Geoff Boycott, of whom Parky scrupulously observes: "He wasn't the most greatly gifted player on our team."